Chocolate has played an important role in human culture since about 350 BC, when the Aztecs were drinking fermented cocoa. Chocolate is used in ceremony, it’s presented as a gift and it’s often just the thing many people reach for to power through the mid-afternoon blood sugar slump.
U of G’s Prof. Alejandro Marangoni studies the physical properties of foods, and his research reveals some of the hidden science in chocolate. He appeared on Apr. 1 in a Global News story talking about chocolate marketing, and in an Apr. 2 CBC News story discussing his chocolate research.
A professor in the Department of Food Science, Marangoni will discuss his work in a public lecture, “The Chemistry and Physics of Chocolate,” hosted in Waterloo, Ont., by the Royal Canadian Institute for Science on April 18.
Holder of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Food, Health and Aging, Marangoni studies fat crystallization and structure. His recent work on edible ethylcelulose oleogels, polymer gelation of oil, heat-resistant chocolate and petroleum replacement has attracted significant attention worldwide.
He is available for interviews.
Contact:
Prof. Alejandro Marangoni
amarango@uoguelph.ca